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I couldn't stop thinking of the comedy potential of hypothetical conversation between a French person, who keeps saying "non" profusely, and a Japanese person w
by rdtsc 7y ago
I couldn't stop thinking of the comedy potential of hypothetical conversation between a French person, who keeps saying "non" profusely, and a Japanese person who is appalled, and is trying their very hardest to not say "no".
> French ‘no’ is often an invitation to debate, engage and better understand one another,
To someone who can read and sometimes understand spoken French, that seemed like a good approximation. Also liked that part where they explain that "non" is just another way of saying "I don't know".
From the personal point of view, would say a French "non" is also easier to say, it just rolls off the tongue in a way and seems less abrupt and confrontational than a "no" in English, for example.
- Lio 7y agoIt's interesting how we interpret meaning that's not actually there. I'm currently trying to lean a little French. To me the French "Non" sounds much more abrupt and often slightly agressive even when I know it's not at all being said like that. My French is currently far too poor to pick up any subtlety but that doesn't stop my mind playing tricks on me unfortunately.
- rdtsc 7y ago> It's interesting how we interpret meaning that's not actually there. Fascinating. It's totally subjective. And I imagine it depends on what other languages you speak. Some languages to me just sound softer and more poetic like say French or Portuguese, some seem harsher like German and Japanese. Russian is probably in the middle, though poetry somehow works beautifully in Russian.